Using ElementalArea with DataObject#

Creating model and adding ElementalArea#

In this example the class BlogPost will be created, it will extend the DataObject class. Also a new BlogPost Admin section will be created in the Admin panel where CMS users can manage the BlogPost objects.

Let's look at an example:

php
namespace App\Admins;

use App\Models\BlogPost;
use SilverStripe\Admin\ModelAdmin;

class BlogPostsAdmin extends ModelAdmin
{
    private static string $url_segment = 'blog-posts-admin';

    private static string $menu_title = 'Blog Posts';

    private static string $menu_icon_class = 'font-icon-block-banner';

    private static array $managed_models = [
        BlogPost::class,
    ];
}

$managed_models - this static variable connects BlogPostAdmin with BlogPost, which will be created in the following code. When you create a DataObject you should define the connection between your DataObject and ElementalArea by adding $has_one relationship. In this example BlogPost will have one ElementalArea.

php
// app/src/Models/BlogPost.php
namespace App\Models;

use DNADesign\Elemental\Models\ElementalArea;
use SilverStripe\ORM\DataObject;

class BlogPost extends DataObject
{
    private static string $table_name = 'BlogPost';

    private static $has_one = [
        'ElementalArea' => ElementalArea::class,
    ];

    private static $owns = ['ElementalArea'];

    // ...
}

If you are using ElementalArea together with DataObject, it is important to define the CMSEditLink() method in the class. BaseElement::CMSEditLink() relies on a valid CMS link being available in the parent DataObject - in this case, BlogPost. It is used to navigate directly to the editing section of the particular element.

NOTE

If you have a nested GridField this method can get more complicated. Similarly, if your class is used in multiple admins, you will have to choose one to be the canonical admin section for the purposes of this method. This example only shows the simplest case, where the BlogPost class is used directly in BlogPostsAdmin.

php
namespace App\Models;

class BlogPost extends DataObject
{
    // ...

    public function CMSEditLink()
    {
        // In this example we use BlogPostsAdmin class as Controller
        $admin = BlogPostsAdmin::singleton();

        // Makes link more readable. Instead App\Models\ BlogPost, we get App-Models-BlogPost
        $sanitisedClassname = str_replace('\\', '-', $this->ClassName);

        // Returns link to editing section with elements
        return Controller::join_links(
            $admin->Link($sanitisedClassname),
            'EditForm/field/',
            $sanitisedClassname,
            'item',
            $this->ID
        );
    }

    // ...
}

And finally, add ElementalAreasExtension to the DataObject

yaml
# app/_config/elemental.yml
App\Models\BlogPost:
  extensions:
    - DNADesign\Elemental\Extensions\ElementalAreasExtension